United manager Greg Abbott spoke to us this morning about the weekend trip to Hartlepool.

He said: "I watched them when they played Sheffield United for what was Neale Cooper's first game and they were well beaten on that occasion.

"I think he has worked them hard and they have improved a lot since then, and they have picked up a few good results.

"It's a local derby, it's a tough game, and we never get anything on the cheap when we go there. We're in decent shape though and we're ready to go there to try to earn the right to play our game.

"We've got just about everybody back and fit now, apart from the obvious one, and I think Matt [Robson] might be struggling to make it. Peter Murphy will come through training okay, we think, so that gives us plenty of depth. Craig Curran is another who needs to step up in intensity, so we'll see how he does in training over the next few days.

"At the moment in League One teams are taking points off each other and games can go either way. This will be no different. We keep saying it, but it comes down to who does it right on the day.

"This is another one of those games where it's an enjoyable day out for the fans. It's fairly easy to get to and they will go in numbers, so we want to put a performance on for them.

"We want to get back to winning ways if at all possible because that keeps us in touch with that little group around us. It's an important one for us if we can win it because it will keep our good run going and it will keep those confidence levels high, and I think we all want that.

"We had a lot of chances when we played them back in September and it was one where we were left wondering how we'd lost it. The difference at the moment is all about the confidence in the squad that we keep talking about. There's a lot of belief and we are going into games thinking that we can win them.

"It'll be a good game with a good atmosphere, so we should all go there to enjoy it and hopefully come away with a positive result."